College Basketball

Purdue, Duke, Gonzaga and Baylor sit atop Andy Katz's Tiers

Published Dec. 2, 2021 5:01 p.m. ET

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By Andy Katz
FOX Sports College Basketball Analyst

Ohio State’s win over Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge means there will be a new No. 1 on Monday in the Associated Press Top 25.

It also means there is a new No. 1 in my tiers. Remember, the first group is the title favorites, and then we work our way down in groups of four.

Digest and debate.

Andy Katz's College Basketball Tiers | CBB on Fox

Andy Katz lists four teams he considers title contenders at this point in the season.

TIER 1: Title favorites

Purdue: The Boilermakers scored 93 points against Florida State. Granted, Leonard Hamilton didn’t have a full roster healthy, but that’s still 93 against FSU.

Duke: The Blue Devils lost a true road game at Ohio State a few days after beating Gonzaga in Las Vegas. The loss won't drop them out of tier one.

Gonzaga: The Zags had a mighty scare from Tarleton State. But that game was a classic hangover from the Las Vegas trip on which Mark Few's team went 1-1 with a win over UCLA and the loss to Duke.

Baylor: The Bears won the Battle 4 Atlantis with a victory over Michigan State and have found two more scoring guards in James Akinjo and LJ Cryer.

TIER 2: Final weekend contenders

Kansas: The Jayhawks lost an ESPN Events Invitational semifinal game to Dayton at the buzzer. Kansas then turned around and ran away from Iona. There's no shame in one loss.

UCLA: The Bruins regrouped post-Gonzaga to knock off UNLV for a true road win. They still need to get healthy, but once they do, they will be right back in the mix.

Villanova: Nova is the third-best offensively efficient team in the country, according to Ken Pom, right behind Gonzaga and Purdue. That’s good enough to keep the Wildcats in the top eight.

Kentucky: Oscar Tshiebwe is rebounding at an incredible rate, averaging 16 boards. He’s a double-double machine for a Kentucky team that will step up the competition in December.

TIER 3: Elite Eight potential

Arizona: The Wildcats’ 80-62 win over Michigan in Las Vegas goes down as one of the most significant of the first month of the season. Arizona is locking teams down at 26% from 3-point range. Tommy Lloyd has done a masterful job in year one so far.

Houston: The Cougars lost by two to Wisconsin, but Houston hammered Virginia and Oregon and has the No. 1 defensive efficient team, according to Ken Pom.

Ohio State: The Buckeyes have played a rugged slate, going to Xavier (loss), splitting buzzer-beaters in Florida (beat Seton Hall, lost to Florida) and then coming back from 15 points down to take out No. 1 Duke.

USC: The Trojans have won true road games and neutral-court games, with the latest a win over San Diego State. This team needs more love!

TIER 4: Second-weekend teams

Arkansas: The Hogs won the Hall of Fame Tournament in Kansas City by knocking off Kansas State and Cincinnati. This is a fun, entertaining and hard-working group.

Wisconsin: The Badgers won the relocated Maui Invitational, including a win over Houston. They followed that with a road win at Georgia Tech. That’s four neutral/road wins for the Badgers.

Florida: The Gators lost on the road to Oklahoma on Wednesday, but their overall résumé is still a tad better than Alabama's or Texas'. The Gators have wins over Ohio State at the buzzer and Florida State.

Tennessee: The Vols got the split in Mohegan Sun, losing to Villanova and beating North Carolina to slightly edge ahead of Texas, Alabama and BYU, which lost to Utah Valley on Wednesday.

Andy Katz is a longtime college basketball writer, analyst and host. He can be seen on FOX Sports and Big Ten Network platforms, as well as March Madness and NCAA.com, and he hosts the podcast "March Madness 365." Katz worked at ESPN for nearly two decades and, prior to that, in newspapers for nine years.

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College Basketball

Purdue Boilermakers

Duke Blue Devils

Baylor Bears

Gonzaga Bulldogs

Kansas Jayhawks

UCLA Bruins

Villanova Wildcats

Kentucky Wildcats

James Akinjo

L.J. Cryer

Oscar Tshiebwe

Arizona Wildcats

Houston Cougars

Ohio State Buckeyes

USC Trojans

Arkansas Razorbacks

Wisconsin Badgers

Florida Gators

Tennessee Volunteers